The Bluegrass State is known for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and Derby City has the Louisville Ale Trail. But there’s a new passport program in town, and it has nothing to do with beverages.
The Kentucky Garden Trail made its debut in October 2024, and it’s giving locals and visitors alike good reason to explore a dozen of the Commonwealth’s most stunning gardens and arboreta. Here’s how the trail came to be, which gardens are included, and what you can expect!
Kim Hydes, executive director of Oldham County Tourism and project lead for the trail, explains that the concept came from a chat with Paul Cappiello, executive director of Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in Crestwood. “Out of that conversation came a need for an industry website,” she says, explaining that their idea was to create a resource for visitors and industry professionals to see what’s new and exciting throughout the state’s best gardens and arboreta.
About two years later, the Kentucky Garden Trail was created in collaboration with nine counties and tourism offices in Kentucky. These include Bowling Green Tourism, Bullitt County Tourism, Frankfort Tourism, Lexington Tourism, Louisville Tourism, Madisonville Tourism, Murray Tourism, Oldham County Tourism, and Owensboro Tourism.
The trail only features gardens and arboreta that meet specific criteria. First and foremost, the garden must be the main attraction of the property, and second, it must offer educational programs or workshops.
The program is the only one of its kind in the country — and it’s not just for gardeners. “As a hobby gardener myself,” Kim says, “it was interesting to know there were gardens that had restaurants [and other attractions]. … I can go to Yew Dell and hike the trails, have lunch, and bring my dog every Sunday.”
The Kentucky Garden Trail website includes all the information one might need before visiting, including each place’s location, hours, and highlights. For example, guests can expect to find a butterfly garden, interactive tours, a museum store, and more at the Liberty Hall Historic Site in Frankfort.
These offerings are conveniently published in a bullet-pointed list on each garden page. The sites include:
- The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky – Lexington, KY
- Baker Arboretum – Bowling Green, KY
- Bernheim Forest – Clermont, KY
- Cave Hill Cemetery – Louisville, KY
- Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve – Goshen, KY
- Doran Arboretum at Murray State – Murray, KY
- Mahr Park – Madisonville, KY
- Liberty Hall – Frankfort, KY
- University of Louisville – Louisville, KY
- Yew Dell Botanical Gardens – Crestwood, KY
- Waterfront Botanical Gardens – Louisville, KY
- Western Kentucky Botanical Garden – Owensboro, KY
Website visitors can easily filter the list of gardens by six garden types and more than a dozen activities and interests, including hiking and walking, art and sculptures, pet-friendly, and kids’ activities.
“You don’t have to be a garden enthusiast to go on the trail,” Kim says, adding that not only is there lots to do within the gardens themselves but there are a plethora of other places to check out in each area. She explains that each garden page on the website also includes a list with links to other nearby attractions. This makes it easy for garden-goers to plan a day or weekend trip in the area.
Attractions near Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve in Goshen, for example, include downtown LaGrange, which features the country’s only site of a freight train on its main street; Heritage Farm and Barn8, where guests can take a historic racehorse farm tour and dine in a horse stall; and Knock on Wood Mercantile & Cafe, which offers an extensive gift shop and homemade treats.
Of course, as a passport program, Kentucky Garden Trail also offers an incentive for visiting every garden on the list — but the passport itself might be reason enough to start exploring. “It’s paper, but I designed it to look like leather and feel like suede,” Kim says. “It looks like pebbled leather, so it’s a souvenir on its own.”
Visitors can pick up a free passport at any of the 12 trail locations — or download and print a copy from the website — then head to the gardens to start collecting stamps. “The stamps are important,” Kim says, “because each garden has their own custom stamp that has a leaf or flower the garden is known for.”
After collecting stamps from six gardens, passport holders can redeem their first gift: a custom butterfly garden seed packet created just for the trail. Once all 12 stamps are collected, garden-goers receive their choice of a T-shirt or zippered tote bag, both of which feature imagery of the stamps they’ve collected throughout their explorations.
Upon completing the trail, visitors might want to grab a new passport and begin again. Each garden offers different things to see and do, as well as events, during different seasons. “There is something to see and experience at all 12 gardens all year,” Kim exclaims.
**********
Give your inbox the Southern makeover it deserves. Subscribe to our daily emails.
